Built in Caraquet village, the twins are two small sister constructions link in order to create a single family holiday house oriented towards the grandiose scenic view of the Baie-des-Chaleurs.
The twins are simultaneously a peaceful retreat in nature in front of the sea as well as an architectural insertion in the context of the historical Acadian Village that is Caraquet. The site of the project is but a couple of hundred meters from the village’s church and less than 60 meters form the thin sand beaches.
Sober and stripped down architecture inspired by the Acadian vernacular architecture, the house consists of twin looking volumes. The small constructions covered by metal sheets are located in one of the last naturalclearing of the village.
The first entity, largely fenestrated on its south facade, contains the living spaces, while its sister, open on its north end, regroups the bedrooms and the garage.
The sister houses, common to Acadian architecture, stand parallel to each other and are only connected by a glazed passage that acts as a working space offering a panoramic view on the sea.
Its displacement between the twin sisters and its length offer just the right amount of privacy between entities while also defining a sunbathed courtyard protected from the often violent winds of the area.
Project Details:
Location: Caraquet, New Brunswick, Canada
Area: 1500 sqf.
Architects: YH2
Design Team: François Bélanger, Marie-Claude Hamelin, Loukas Yiacouvakis
Photographs: Pascal Annand
Soffits/eaves generally meet walls at their highest point. Bringing this point down the wall, and letting those angled soffits marry into similar treatments at the ends/corners of the walls transforms two connected fancy steel sheds into a beautiful yet still rugged creation that easily settles into its place in this fairly harsh environment, giving the impression that it’s just always been there. Quite strong lines and materials outside belie the soft almost simple lines inside. (Although I’m sorry but, while I understand the beauty formed by Framing a view, I still can’t see the wisdom in, even partially, hiding a view- especially one as spectacular as this.)
Yes apologies for my long-windedness.